WESTFIELD-On a recent morning visit with Angela Flanagan at her home, her daughter Gianna was bouncing on her knee, and asked politely, “I want to see pictures of Daddy.” Flanagan took a moment to select one of her favorite photos of her husband, Tom, from photos stored in her phone so that Gianna would smile.
For Gianna, those photographs will be one of her connections to her dad since he was killed in a tragic car crash in South Hadley on May 22. As of Monday morning, the Northwestern District Attorney’s office said the accident “is still under investigation” and has not released the name of the driver who police say crossed the center line on College Street and hit Flanagan’s car head-on. Both drivers were transported to Baystate Medical Center; Flanagan did not survive the crash.
Samantha Carboneau and her son Mason cut up apples for a chicken salad they are preparing for the “meal train” to benefit the Flanagan family in Westfield.
“On the day of Tom’s accident he went to work like he normally does on Sundays,” said Flanagan. “I was at a birthday party with the kids, and received a phone call around 7:40 p.m. that Tom had been in a serious accident but nobody knows details.”
Once Flanagan learned that her husband was transported to Baystate, her sister drove her to provide support. Once inside the ER, Flanagan was told a physician would be talking with her soon.
“My heart was pounding because I have been here before,” said Flanagan. “My sister just passed away, and while the circumstances were completely different, this seemed all too familiar to me.”
When the physician escorted her into a small white room with chairs and boxes of tissues, she said she knew what was going to be said to her.
“Then the words came out from the doctor, ‘The man whom we presume to be Thomas Flanagan has passed away tonight,’” said Flanagan. “Those words play over and over and over in my head. How? Why? Who? No … it’s not Tom. I need to see him.”
Flanagan said her husband was her rock and she couldn’t believe she was leaving the hospital without him.
“I left that hospital without the love of my life, the father of my children,” she said, adding, “a mother and father left without their son, sisters and brothers left without their brother, aunts and uncles left without their nephew. We all left with this emptiness and heartache that can never be described.”
The couple had met through a mutual friend in the summer of 2005 and became inseparable from that moment on.
“We hit it off immediately, and both of us couldn’t wait to tell our siblings about it,” said Flanagan.
The couple married in 2010 in Stanley Park and purchased a home in the city.
“We fell in love with the city,” said Flanagan. “We decided to buy our first home in Westfield and grow our family.”
Flanagan noted that her husband loved “all sports” and shared his enthusiasm with his friends and especially his children. His favorite teams included the Patriots, Celtics, Red Sox, and Bruins.
“He was proud of all his New England teams,” said Flanagan. “While these were all sports that Tom loved to watch, his all-time favorite sport to play was golf. He had just gotten a membership to the Southwick golf course and really enjoyed spending his free time there.”
One of Tom’s favorite pastimes was also playing football or baseball in the yard with his children, Gianna, 2, and Liam, 3½, noted Flanagan.
“He started taking Liam golfing with him every Friday,” she said. “It was their special Daddy and Me time. He always made sure Liam and Gianna knew the ‘right’ teams to cheer for and took Liam to a Red Sox game and a Patriots’ training day.”
Flanagan added that she plans to continue sharing her husband’s passion for sports with her children.
Once the news of the car crash was made public, almost overnight, friends and relatives sprang into action to assist Flanagan and her children. Flanagan is a full-time student at Westfield State University, majoring in early childhood education. Her husband had graduated from Westfield State in 2008, majoring in business management. In addition to delivering pizzas for Family Pizza and other odd jobs, Tom Flanagan had started a photo booth business – Flantastic Photo Booths – three years ago. Earlier this year, he and his cousin Joe Stefanelli joined forces and changed the business name to Take Two Photo Booths.
“They worked well together and the photo booth business was really starting to take off,” said Flanagan, noting her husband started the business because it was fewer hours away from home.
“He really wanted to spend as much time at home with us as possible but also provide for us. He was very proud of his business.”
While Flanagan has to focus her attention on her children at this difficult time, friends, family and community members have lent a helping hand – including establishing a “Meal Train” which offers an opportunity for people to make a meal for her and her children and drop it off from 4:30 to 6 p.m. at her home on Madison Street. For more details on the program and to lock in a date, visit www.mealtrain.com and search for Tom Flanagan’s Amazing Wife & Kids.
For those in the community who prefer to reach out in other ways, The Flanagan Memorial Fund has been established, and donations can be sent to the fund, c/o Peoples Bank, 825 Hampden St., Holyoke, MA 01040. Additionally, a GoFundMe page has been created by visiting www.gofundme.com and searching for Tom Flanagan’s Amazing Wife & Kids.
“I would like to sincerely thank everyone who has donated to GoFundMe, the meal train, and the memorial fund,” said Flanagan. “The kindness from friends, family and members of the community has been incredibly heartwarming and it’s one of the only things that kept us going through this horrible time. Words simply cannot describe the gratitude and love I have towards everyone who has helped.”
A friend of Flanagan’s who has reached out is Samantha Carboneau of Westfield, whose son bonded first with Liam and that connection brought the two women together.
“Angela and I were lucky enough to meet halfway through this school year,” said Carboneau during a visit to her home. “Our sons Liam and Mason are in a classroom together at Fort Meadow and became the best of friends early on.”
Once the two women connected because of their sons, their friendship blossomed.
“It just so happens that Gianna and my middle child, Spencer, are only a few weeks apart as well,” said Carboneau. “So over the past few months the four kids have become close friends as well as Angela and I.”
Carboneau explained the kindness that both Tom and Angela Flanagan had shared with her earlier in the year.
“Tom and Angela shared their kindness when my husband left on deployment in April,” said Carboneau. “They would always check in to see how everyone was doing and offer a helping hand. There were several times when Tom would come over to my car in the drop-off line and offer to walk Mason up to the school. That gave Mason a chance to walk with his best friend.”
Since the meal train started, Carboneau has made meals for Flanagan and her children, including a French meat pie and broccoli.
“I made Angela one of our family favorites,” said Carboneau. “I also prepared a chicken salad, and brought over healthy snack options for the kids to grab on the go.”
Carboneau also enlisted her family members to help and her grandmother, Betty Gilbert of Wyben, will be preparing chicken parmesan and pasta for this Thursday night.
While individuals including Carboneau are answering the call on the meal train, for others who are interested in helping the family in ways other than preparing meals, ideas could include purchasing a gift card to a local eatery or supermarket. Also, families may decide to plan and execute a meal and deliver it together.
“The Flanagan family is facing an unimaginable loss right now,” said Carboneau. “Tom, Angela and the kids had such an incredible bond with one another. From the first time we all hung out, I could tell that they had a strong marriage and that their kids were the greatest blessings in their lives.”
Carboneau noted that her friend is a “strong woman” and knows Flanagan will spend every day making sure her children know how much they are loved by both of their parents.
“A helping hand can go a long way during this time of loss,” said Carboneau. “By taking the extra time out of your day to make a meal, it allows her to focus all of her energy on her two beautiful children and keeping Tom alive in their hearts.”
Flanagan said the meal train has been “incredible.”
“During such times as this the last thing you think about is taking care of yourself,” said Flanagan. “It has been so amazing to have people cook incredible meals for my children and me. I cannot thank everyone enough for thinking of my family and me during this time. It has been so heartwarming to see so much goodness in this world and I am forever grateful.”
Flanagan also noted she is “grateful” for her family members who have been invaluable to her during the past few weeks.
“Our families have come together in so many ways to help my children and me during this difficult time,” said Flanagan, adding, “whether it is getting us out of the house, helping me with phone calls and arrangements, cleaning my house, mowing my lawn, or keeping my children happy and content so I can get through what I need to get through. I am grateful they have been a shoulder for me to lean on.”
